Fumio Kishida is a Japanese politician who has served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party since 2021. A member of the House of Representatives, he previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2017 and as acting Minister of Defense in 2017. From 2017 to 2020, he also chaired the LDP Policy Research Council.
Born into a political family, Kishida spent part of his childhood in the United States, where he attended elementary school in New York City. After beginning his career in finance, Kishida entered politics and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1993 as a member of the LDP. Kishida was appointed to various posts in the cabinets of prime ministers Shinzo Abe and Yasuo Fukuda from 2007 to 2008, and was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2012 after Abe regained the premiership following the 2012 general election, serving for five years and becoming the longest-serving Foreign Affairs Minister in Japanese history. Kishida resigned from the Abe cabinet in 2017 in order to head the LDP's Policy Research Council. Kishida also assumed control of the LDP's more moderate Kōchikai faction in 2012 following the retirement of faction boss Makoto Koga.
Long considered a potential future prime minister, Kishida ran in the 2020 LDP leadership election, but lost to Yoshihide Suga. He ran again for the party leadership in 2021, this time winning in a second round run-off against opponent Taro Kono. Kishida was confirmed as Prime Minister by the National Diet four days later on 4 October 2021. He led the LDP to victory in the 2021 general election later that same month, albeit at a slightly reduced majority.
Kishida has been described as a moderate conservative and has stated that his premiership will focus on a "new model of capitalism", by seeking to implement redistributive policies to expand the middle class. On foreign policy he has continued strengthening the Quad Security Dialogue in pursuit of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy, taken steps to repair ties with South Korea and in 2022 instructed the cabinet to increase Japan's military budget by 65% by 2027. His premiership has seen political scandals related to the LDP's links to the Unification Church which came to public attention after the assassination of Shinzo Abe in 2022. Kishida has also seen struggles with his approval ratings admist economic issues and multiple scandals involving members of his cabinets, with his cabinet's approval rating falling to 21.3%, the lowest since Tarō Asō in 2008.
Wikipedia
assassination of Shinzo Abe
Fumio Kishida (2022) cited in " Japan votes in election billed as 'defense of democracy' as police admit security 'problems' during Shinzo Abe assassination https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/10/asia/japan-elections-voters-shinzo-abe-assassinated-intl-hnk/index.html" on CNN, 10 July 2022.
